national science foundation nsf and undergraduate mathematics education jim lewis national science...
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NSF and Undergraduate Mathematics Education
Jim Lewis
National Science Foundationwww.nsf.gov
October 31, 2015AMS Committee on Education
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The call to improve mathematics instruction in our colleges and universities is not new.
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Towards Excellence - 1999
Towards Excellence: Leading a Mathematics Department in the 21st Century, was written by
the AMS Task Force on Excellence. The opening line was:
We have a simple message: To ensure their institution’s commitment to excellence in
mathematics research, doctoral departments must pursue excellence in their instructional programs.
Supported by NSF (RED-9550471) and EXXON Education Foundation
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Applying the Science of Learning to the University and Beyond
It would be difficult to design an educational model that is more at odds with the findings of current research about human cognition than the one being used today at most colleges and universities.
Change, July/August 2003
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AMS Task Force on First-Year Mathematics
Recommendations: “First things first.”
• Leadership matters—success in this area depends upon the value assigned to it by a department’s leadership;
• Harness the power of technology to improve teaching and learning;
• Invest in teaching graduate students to be good teachers.
AMS Notices, June/July 2009
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Context• Today there is Intense National and Federal
interest in improving STEM Education
– Engage to Excel
– Co-STEM 5-year strategic plan
• Importance of first two years of STEM education – in particular, success in mathematics is key
• Upper division mathematics is also important
– The Mathematical Sciences in 2025
• The mathematics community is paying attention
TPSE, AMS, MAA, SIAM
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Federal Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)
Education 5-Year Strategic Plan
Priority Areas/Interagency Working Groups
• P-12 STEM education
• Undergraduate education
• Graduate education
• Broadening participation
• Public engagement
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Strategic objectives for Federal investment in undergraduate education
• Implementation of evidence-based instructional practices and innovations
• Improve STEM education at 2-year colleges and transfer to 4-year colleges
• Support the development of university-industry partnerships to provide relevant and authentic experiences
• Address high failure rates in introductory undergraduate mathematics
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Now is the time to focus on mathematics at the undergraduate and graduate level
• Mathematics is essential in the preparation of the STEM workforce
• The nature and practice of science is becoming computationally intensive and data-driven across most fields
• New technologies and new understandings about learning and teaching allow new possibilities for instruction.
• If mathematics departments don’t own the problem, someone else will.
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Goals of the Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR)
• Prepare the next generation of STEM professionals and attract/retain more Americans to STEM careers
• Develop a robust research community that can conduct rigorous research and evaluation to support excellence in STEM education
• Increase the technological, scientific and quantitative literacy of all Americans
• Broaden participation and close achievement gaps in all STEM fields.
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EHR Thematic Framework
• Learning and Learning Environments– Develop understanding of the foundations of STEM
learning; emerging contexts and tools; building new environments for learning in a technological society
• Broadening Participation in STEM– Increase the scientific workforce by engaging and
building capacity in all people in STEM learning and professional training
• STEM Professional Workforce Development – Improve the education and preparation of a STEM
professional workforce 11
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EHR mathematics funding
• Mathematics funding in EHR overall (FY2014)
11% of proposals contained a focus on mathematics
7.5% of proposals were focused exclusively on mathematics
• 2014 Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) competition:
~6%
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Directorate for Education and Human Resources
EHR has a budget of $866 M
• Division of Graduate Education273M
• Division of Research on Learning222M
• Division of Undergraduate Education227M
• Division of Human Resource
Development144M
EHR is not mentioned in The Mathematical Sciences in 2025
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We see key areas of opportunity
• Transition from HS to undergraduate education
• Implementation of active learning instruction
• Engagement of students from groups traditionally underrepresented in STEM
• Learning supported by technology
• New curriculum, data science, and computational approaches
• Partnerships across disciplines
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Potential of Active Learning Strategies
• PCAST: “Classroom approaches that engage students in “active learning” improve retention of information and critical thinking skills, compared with a sole reliance on lecturing, and increase persistence of students in STEM majors.”
• Freeman et al. (2014). “Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
• Meta-analysis of 225 studies that reported data comparing student performance in STEM courses under traditional lecturing versus active learning.
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Impact of Active Learning
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Outcomes of Active Learning (Freeman et. al, 2014)
• Increases in examination performance would raise average grades by a half a letter.
• Failure rates under traditional lecturing are 55% higher than the rates observed under active learning.
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A special opportunity for mathematics:
NSF 15-026 “Dear Colleague Letter: Increasing College Opportunity Through Improved Mathematics Success in the First Two Years of College” (Archived)
• Only received 41 proposals : EAGERs, Supplements, Workshops.
• Successful proposals range from research intensive universities to community colleges.
• Awards: $6,151,962 from several EHR sources
Why weren’t there more proposals?
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Example Topics• Graduate Assistant (GA) preparation for teaching,
mentoring, and advising undergraduates (while they are GAs and when they enter the workforce).
• Dual Enrollment (e.g., college algebra while in high school)
• Development of Pedagogy Guide for departments’, faculty & GAs to use (in the sense of MAA’s Curriculum Guide)
• Assessment: Develop, evaluate, implement: Quantitative Biology Concept Inventory (QBCI)—assessment of mathematics and quantitative concept learning goals in the context real-world life
• Novel approaches to lower level mathematics: (e.g., use of animations, data examples, etc.)
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Division of Undergraduate Education
Core DUE programs• Advanced Technological Education (ATE)
• Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE)
• Noyce Teacher Scholars Program (Noyce)
• Scholarships in STEM (S-STEM)
http://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=DUE
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IUSE: EHR Deadlines(FY 2016)
11/03/2015 01/13/2016
Engaged Student Learning
Exploration and Design Development & Implementation I & II
Institutional and Community Transformation
Exploration and Design Development & Implementation
http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?WT.z_pims_id=505082&ods_key=nsf15585
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Our Reality
• Distribution of available funds depends on proposal pressure
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Proposal Pressure – FY14Discipline/Emphasis Exploration Tier
Design and Development Tier
TEACHER PREP 7 22
PHYSICS & ASTRO 30 37
BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
57 55
CHEMISTRY 53 26
COMPUTING 62 50
EARTH SCIENCES 22 30
ENGINEERING 152 109
INTER & MULTI-DISCIPLINARY
64 187
MATHEMATICS 52 66
SOC. & BEHAV. SCI. 31 23
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Attributes of successful proposals
• Collaborations with education researchers, cognitive/learning scientists
• Interdisciplinary opportunities
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Scholarships +
• Noyce: pre-service teacher preparation audience
• S-STEM: scholarships and co-curricular support for students with academic talent, who demonstrate financial need
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HRD Programs that include an undergraduate focus
• LSAMP: To significantly increase the numbers of students (historically under-represented in STEM) who successfully complete high quality degree programs in STEM disciplines
(focus primarily on undergraduate level)
• ADVANCE: To develop systemic approaches to increase the representation and advancement of women in Academic STEM Careers
• CREST: To strengthen the national research competitiveness of Minority-serving institutions
• HBCU-UP: To enhance the quality of undergraduate STEM education and research at Historically Black Colleges or Universities
• TCUP: To promote high quality STEM education, research, and outreach programs at Tribal Colleges, Alaska Native-serving, and Native Hawaiian-serving institutions
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Additional Programs of Interest
• EHR Core Research (ECR)
• Discovery Research K-12 (DRK12)
• Graduate Research Fellowships (GRFP)
• NRT (Innovations in Graduate Education)
• EAGER, RAPID
• CAREER
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Early-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER)• To support exploratory work in early stages on potentially
transformative research ideas or approaches• Two years, up to $300,000 (total)• Must contact a Program Director
Grants for Rapid Response Research (RAPID)• To support projects having a severe urgency• Must contact a Program DirectorFacilitating Research at Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (NSF 14-579)• Research in Undergraduate Institutions (RUI)• Research Opportunity Awards (ROA)
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CAREER
• Faculty Early Career Development
Program (CAREER) NSF 15-555
To prepare the next generation of scientist
educators
For untenured assistant professors seeking to
integrate research and teaching in innovative
ways
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Example Projects• CAREER (1452889) M. Wawro (Virginia
Tech) “An Interdisciplinary Study of Learning: Student Understanding of Linear Algebra in Physics”
• CAREER (1453822) J. Noll (Portland State University) “Transforming College Students’ Statistical Thinking: Data, Technology & Modeling”
• (1505246) D. Farmer (American Institute of Mathematics – AIM) “Open resources for the mathematics curriculum” Multi-format, high quality, field tested materials
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A Theme - Graduate Student (GA) Preparation (IUSE)
• (1450746) D. Maki-PI (Indiana) (10/14) “A Planning Conference/Workshop On Preparing Mathematical Sciences Graduate Students For Careers Teaching, Advising, and Mentoring Undergraduates”
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Graduate Student TA Preparation
• (1539602) M. Jacobson-PI, University of Colorado at Denver “MATH:EAGER:Promoting Undergraduate Success in Early College Mathematics through Graduate Teacher Training
• (1432381)–PI J. Bookman (Duke) MAA project. “Improving the Preparation of Graduate Students to Teach Undergraduate Mathematics.” Vision: To enhance the mathematics community's ability to provide high quality, teaching-related PD & resources for GAs.
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Bressoud, Rasmussen, Braddy et. al.
• Characteristics of successful programs in college calculus (NSF#0910240)
• Progress through calculus (NSF#1430540)
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Tips for Success• Start EARLY (at LEAST 6 months prior to deadline)
• Get acquainted with FastLane (www.fastlane.nsf.gov)
• READ the Program Solicitation• Know the program’s specific guidelines and follow
them!
• Contact a program officer to discuss your idea• May provide useful information and help you refine
your idea• May also prevent you from applying to the wrong
program
• “Attend” program webinars
• Sign up for NSF Updates (https://service.govdelivery.com/accounts/USNSF/subscriber/new)
• Become an NSF reviewer (And then become an NSF rotator )
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Coming Attractions
• Special “pre-session” on funding opportunities and proposal writing at the AMS Department Chairs meeting at JMM – Monday afternoon 01/04/2016
